The search for missing German kayaker Rene Weisswange (25) has been officially suspended, after a final aerial search of Lake Hawea yesterday failed to find anything.
Mr Weisswange, who had lived in the village for about two months and was a chef at the Lake Hawea Hotel, went missing on August 29 during a kayaking trip on the lake and has not been found. His borrowed kayak and broken paddle were found washed up on the shore beneath the village on August 31.
A memorial service held last Thursday to lift a tapu on the lake was attended by his parents, Birgit and Volker Weisswange, and many of the Wanaka LandSAR volunteers who have been searching the lake and shoreline for the missing man.
Constable Mike Johnston said the search had been suspended until "any evidence comes to light that would require us to put teams back in".
Yesterday, three Wanaka LandSAR members carried out a thorough search of the shoreline of Lake Hawea and the southern end of the lake from a helicopter in "perfect observation conditions", Const Johnston said.
After an intensive few days of searching when Mr Weisswange first went missing, a scaled-down search has continued during the past two weeks.
"Every second day, we've had personnel walking the southern shoreline ... where the prevailing wind pushes all the debris."
Mr Weisswange's parents were present during yesterday's search. They will return to Germany later this week.
Mr Weisswange was presumed drowned and his disappearance was now a coronial matter, Const Johnston said.
